1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to automatic sorting of livestock by weight and, more particularly, is concerned with a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is a common practice in the livestock industry to closely monitor the weight of various animals and then sort or segregate them based upon a predetermined weight which will provide a maximum financial return under prevailing market conditions. This is especially the common practice in the pig or hog raising industry.
Various prior art systems have been developed for weighing animals taken one at a time from one enclosure and then sorting the weighed animals into one or the other of a pair of enclosures or pens depending on whether or not the respective animals have reached a predetermined weight. Representative examples of these prior art systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,138,968 and 4,280,448 to Ostermann and U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,711 to Downey et al.
While these prior art systems may be satisfactory in use for the specific purposes for which they were designed, none of them appear to provide a comprehensive optimum design for meeting the objective of weighing animals and then sorting them based on their weight. Consequently, a need still exists for an innovation which will more nearly provide an optimum design for meeting the aforementioned objective.
The present invention provides a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus designed to satisfy the aforementioned need. The livestock weighing and sorting apparatus of the present invention is a more cost-effective comprehensive approach, than the prior art, to meeting the aforementioned objective.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus which comprises: (a) a frame having opposite entry and exit ends; (b) a weighing station supported by the frame and having an inlet opening and an outlet opening spaced apart from one another and disposed adjacent to the respective opposite entry and exit ends of the frame, the weighing station defining a passageway extending between the inlet and outlet openings and the entry and exit ends for permitting an animal to go through the passageway from the respective inlet opening and entry end to the respective outlet opening and exit end of the weighing station and frame and to be weighed as the animal is present in the weighing station; (c) dual inlet gates mounted to the frame side-by-side one another and disposed at the entry end of the frame and adjacent to the inlet opening of the weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement toward and away from each other between opened and closed positions relative to the inlet opening of the weighing station and the entry end of the frame; (d) a first actuator mechanism coupled between the frame and the dual inlet gates and being actuatable to move the dual inlet gates between the opened and closed positions to correspondingly permit and prevent entry of an animal from a livestock supply area through the entry end of the frame and the inlet opening of the weighing station into the passageway of the weighing station; (e) an outlet sort gate mounted to the frame and disposed adjacent to the outlet opening of the weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement between closed and opened positions relative to the outlet opening of the weighing station and the exit end of the frame; (f) a second actuator mechanism coupled between the frame and the outlet sort gate and being actuatable to move the outlet gate between the closed and opened positions to correspondingly prevent and permit exit of the animal through the outlet opening of the weighing station from the passageway thereof to exterior heavy and light livestock sort areas; and (g) means for controlling operation of the weighing station and actuation of the first and second actuator mechanisms and thereby opening and closing of the inlet gate and outlet sort gate in response to operation of the weighing station.
The present invention also is directed to a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus which comprises: (a) a frame having opposite entrance and exit ends; (b) a weighing station supported by the frame and having an inlet opening and an outlet opening spaced apart from one another and disposed adjacent to the respective opposite entry and exit ends of the frame, the weighing station defining a passageway extending between the inlet and outlet openings and the entry and exit ends for permitting an animal to go through the passageway from the respective inlet opening and entry end to the respective outlet opening and exit end of the weighing station and frame and to be weighed as the animal is present in the weighing station; (c) an inlet gate assembly mounted to the entry end of the frame and adjacent to the inlet opening of the weighing station for undergoing movement between opened and closed positions relative to the inlet opening of the weighing station; (d) a first actuator mechanism coupled between the frame and the inlet gate assembly and being actuatable to move the inlet gate assembly between the opened and closed positions to correspondingly permit and prevent entry of the animal from a livestock supply area through the entry end of the frame and the inlet opening of the weighing station into the passageway thereof; (e) an outlet sort gate mounted to the frame and disposed adjacent to the outlet opening of the weighing station for undergoing pivotal movement from a centered closed position to a first opened position or a second opened position relative to the outlet opening of the weighing station and the closed centered position, the outlet sort gate including a central panel portion having a pair of opposite ends, a pivot shaft disposed at one of the opposite ends for pivotal mounting of the outlet sort gate, and an end portion disposed at another of the opposite ends and extending in transverse relation to the central panel portion, the end portion being disposed across the outlet opening of the weighing station when the outlet sort gate is at the closed centered position, the outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to one side of the outlet opening when in the first opened position relative to the outlet opening, the outlet sort gate being pivotally moved and disposed to an opposite side of the outlet opening when in the second opened position relative to the outlet opening; (f) a second actuator mechanism coupled between the frame and the outlet sort gate and being actuatable to move the outlet gate between the centered closed position and the first or second opened positions to correspondingly prevent and permit exit of the animal through the outlet opening of the weighing station from the passageway thereof to exterior heavy and light livestock sort areas; and (g) means for controlling operation of the weighing station and actuation of the first and second actuator mechanisms and thereby opening and closing of the inlet gate assembly and outlet sort gate in response to operation of the weighing station.
And further, the present invention is also directed to a method of automatically weighing and sorting livestock by weight by permitting an animal to pass through a livestock weighing and sorting apparatus that includes a weighing station having an inlet opening and an outlet opening defining a passageway extending therethrough and a weighing scales associated therewith, dual inlet gates disposed at the inlet opening and mounted for undergoing pivotal movement by a first actuator mechanism toward and away from each other between an open position wherein an animal may move forwardly through the inlet opening and into the passageway and a closed position relative to the inlet opening wherein an animal is prevented from moving rearwardly from the passageway once within the passageway, and an outlet sort gate disposed adjacent to the outlet opening and mounted for undergoing pivotal movement by a second actuator mechanism between a closed position wherein an animal within the passageway is prevented to exit the passageway through the exit opening and an open position relative to the outlet opening wherein an animal within the passageway is permitted to exit the passageway forwardly through the outlet opening, comprising the steps of: (a) actuating the first actuator mechanism to pivotally move the dual inlet gates away from one another to an open position and actuating the second actuator to a closed position so as to permit an animal to pass through the inlet opening and into the passageway and to be prevented from exiting the passageway by moving further forwardly through the outlet opening; (b) detecting the presence of an animal within the passageway; (c) actuating the first actuator mechanism to pivotally move the dual inlet gates toward one another from an open to a closed position so as to trap an animal within the passageway between the closed inlet and outlet openings; (d) ensuring the dual inlet doors have been moved by the first actuator mechanism to the closed position; (e) perform the weighing process of the animal within the passageway by operation of the weighing scales for a predetermined time interval to calculate the weight of the animal and record the weight measurement; (f) after the weight of the animal has been calculated and recorded, actuating the second actuator mechanism to pivotally move the outlet sort gate from the closed position to an open position so as to permit the weighed animal to exit the passageway through the outlet opening; and (g) repeat steps (a) through (f) above for weighing successive animals, one at a time. Detection of an animal with the passageway can either be accomplished either through the use of a detector device locating within the weigh station that physically detects the presence of an animal or by setting the weighing scales to a predetermined weight value which would thereby detect the presence of an animal within the passageway. To ensure that the dual inlet gates are in their closed position before the weighing calculation process begins, sensor in association with the first actuator mechanism or in association with the dual inlet gates is employed.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.